One of the most induring struggles between mankind and the natural world has been the struggle to control and eliminate various types of insect infestations which annually cause enormous discomfort, disease, death and loss of valuable property. In some of the southerly regions of the United States, a particularly troublesome problem has been the control of ant populations and especially the large, aggressive ants of those regions whose bite can be both extremely painful and serious and whose proliferation constitutes a serious and continuing problem.
The use of various toxic chemicals and poisons to control ants and other insects has long passed from favor due to environmental concerns and increased awareness of the deleterious side effects which these toxic substances frequently possess. Further, natural predators for these insects are generally not found in sufficient numbers in the affected areas.
As an alternative to poisons, toxic chemicals and predators, it has been proposed employ various forms of traps for containing and confining infestations of insects such as ants. One type of trap which has been used essentially fits either within or around the ant hill in which the colony of ants resides and serves essentially to trap them as they emerge from the hill. Devices of the prior art, however, which have attempted to control infestations of ants in this fashion have suffered from several disadvantages including the inability to confine members of the ant community which may be able to fly and therefore emerge from the trap. Since the queen ant is equipped with wings for flying, the inability to contain this particular member of the insect community results in the queen being able to move to another location and begin again the cycle of reproduction outside of the trap. Additionally, many of the ant traps which have been proposed have required frequent attention and could not be left for extended periods unattended since they have a disposition to fill with rain water to the extent that eventually the water overflows and permits surviving members of the community to emerge from the trap.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a trap for confining and eliminating infestations of ants at a particular location which avoids the need for continuous monitoring and attention and which also provides for the capture and confinement of all members of the ant community including those capable of flight and subsequent reproduction such as the queen.